Every Packers fan should send this guy five bucks.

Jets fan, Parsippany native Gary Martin takes care of Vince Lombardi’s grave

If not for the devotion of New York Jets fan Gary Martin, Lombardi’s New Jersey burial plot would be over-run with bushes and barely recognizable.

…It’s not family members, the Packers organization or the NFL that has taken on the task. That somebody is Martin, a 58-year-old retired policeman who was born and raised in New Jersey and developed a devotion for Lombardi and the Packers when he was a boy.

He’s been doing it for 25 years, making a three-hour round-tripper four times a year (since his back started hurting him) to take care of the grave Lombardi shares with his wife and his parents.

This guy is awesome.

I’ve done my usual amount (about five minutes) of internet research, trying to figure out how I can contact Mr. Martin. According to my results, there is no “Gary Martin” in Parsippany, N.J. There are twenty-one “Gary Martins” in the vicinity of Parsippany. Of course, since we’re talking about New Jersey, “in the vicinity” could be two states away.

Dunno.

Anyway, I’d love to send this guy a thank-you card and five or ten bucks to help with his expenses, and I’d love to encourage other Packer fans to do the same. If I could verify a mailing address and get his permission to share his address with others.

Gary! Are you out there? Drop me an email!

Hat tip to Chris Wysocki, who somehow saw this story before I did.